dj bean

November's over ... now what?

Here’s a prediction: the Bruins will lose a game in December. Maybe even in regulation.

The fact that such a prediction could be considered bold is proof of just how outstanding the Bruins’ month of November was.

On Wednesday night, the B’s wrapped up the second month of the season with their 12th win in 13 November games. The only game in which they didn’t pick up two points was a shootout loss to the Red Wings, and one in which they looked impressive against the best Western Conference team.

What the Bruins were able to accomplish in November was nothing short of stunning. Yes, they faced some subpar goaltending along the way, but going a month without a regulation loss not only shook talk of the Stanley Cup hangover, but helped them make an unheard of leap back to the top of the standings.

As we said a billion times prior to the start of the month, if you’re not in the top eight on Nov. 1, there’s a good chance (87.5 percent) you won’t be in the top eight when the season ends. Good teams start slow, and because of three-point games, they don't climb high enough in the standings to fully recover. Not only did the Bruins recover from a first month that had them dead last in the East on Nov. 1, but they jumped all the way to No. 2 in the conference.

After a month-long reminder that the Bruins are once again one of the top teams in the NHL, the question is how they will keep it up. The B’s will have a huge test after they wrap up their home-and-home with the Leafs, as they’ll head to Pittsburgh Monday to play (if things stay the way they are) a game that matches up the top two teams in the Eastern Conference. The B’s will also face the surprising Panthers, who lead the Southeast division by five points (the largest gap in any division across the league) in December.

While there will be some stiff competition this month, the Bruins have yet to come down from their high level of play and big offensive production, meaning that just because November is over, the winning isn’t suddenly going to stop.

Yet for a good stretch from the middle of the month to late November, it was the top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton that wasn’t performing up to expectations. That changed Wednesday night.

Krejci found himself taking most of the heat recently, as he had gone nine games without a goal, a span in which he had just three assists, entering Wednesday night. He doubled his point production from the previous nine contests when he scored his fourth goal of the season and added two assists in the Bruins’ 6-3 win over the Leafs.

Milan Lucic, who was red-hot from Oct. 29 until Nov. 10 (6 G, 2 A in five games) had also seen his production come to a halt, as he had gone eight games with just two points (both assists). He got the Bruins on the board in the first period with a power-play goal and later provided some insurance in the third period with his 10th goal of the year. Nathan Horton had a pair of assists on the night.

Claude Julien had said since the Detroit game that he’d liked what he’d seen from Krejci and his linemates, but the fact that they weren’t producing like a top line had to be worrisome for the Bruins. Both Kelly and Peverley were nearly point-per-game players for the B’s in November, but in reality, the Bruins can’t count on the team’s third line to produce like a first line for the entire season. All four of the Bruins’ lines have taken turns shining this season, and as the season goes on they’ll need to see the Krejci line’s Wednesday performance be a more frequent occurrence.

CHARA’S BIG PLAY CONTINUES

Zdeno Chara doesn’t need a ton of points to prove he’s the best defenseman in the NHL, but he’s providing them anyway.

After not registering a point in the Bruins’ first six games of the season, Chara, with five goals and 13 assists over the last 17 games, has generated points like few others. In fact, Tyler Seguin is the only Bruin with more points than the captain since Oct. 20.

Chara’s latest multi-point game (he’s had six this season) came Wednesday, as he assisted Lucic’s first-period tally and beat Jonas Gustavsson with a beauty of a wrister in the second period. Chara was also beaten by a flying Phil Kessel in the neutral zone on a play that ended in a Joffrey Lupul goal, which served as the one not-so-bright spot on the night for Chara.

As it stands, Chara is on pace for 64 points, which would shatter his career high of 51 points, which he totaled in 2007-08, his second season with the Bruins. Consider that the man is 34 years of age, and has been an iron man of sorts (no less than 77 games played since signing with the Bruins prior to the 2006-07 season). This bodes well for the captain.

For a team that’s locked into such a long contract with No. 33 (he’s under contract until 2018), it’s a good sign to see the former Norris Trophy winner still might have his best ahead of him. Whether he keeps up his torrid pace remains to be seen, but Chara has shown he can be a handful for more than just opponents' forwards.

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